Export Data

May 02, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s foreign revenues from software and business process outsourcing are higher than officially estimated, but growth is constrained by talent shortfalls, an industry body which has done its own survey said. He said there was interest from investors including from abroad in the industry.

“For us to meet the investment potential we need people,” Furkhan said.

“Grow it organically, that takes time. Another way of doing is to reverse brain drain and created brain gain. We are looking at bringing Sri Lankans back.

“We would like to have a flood, but we have a trickle.”

The government has given relatively low tax rate for professionals to make the tax system competitive but in the case of software engineers there was a problem in classification, industry officials said.

Sri Lanka’s central bank has estimated revenues from ‘computer services’ at 604 million U dollars for 2013, under a standardized balance of payments presentation.

Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM) said it had done its own survey.

About Us

LBO is the pioneer and leader in online business and economics news in Sri Lanka, LBO brings you a more comprehensive online news experience, integrating a host of interactive tools to keep you better informed.